Hmmm, where to start? What is a good reciep for venison
This morning I had to work at 5:45 a.m. Well I got there and there was nothing to do, so, I left at 7:25 a.m. The sun was just starting to rise over and it was a nice clear 28 degree morning. Well, I got home and was debating wether or not to go hunting. I decided I was gonna go out and hope that I didn' t spook anything on my way to the stand. Well, I snuck through the woods and got set-up and ready to go at 8:00 a.m. I decided that I was gonna try and fool any deer that had heard me walk in, so, as soon as I got set-up, I pulled out my H.S. Tru-Talker and my Primos Estrus Can. I did a few grunts and bleats and waited. A whopping 5 minutes later I heard something comming towards me. I looked in the thick brush that seperates the woods and a field and I saw a deer. I pulled up my Bushnell Legend binoculars (Matt/PA, I' ll get to that in a little bit). I saw it was a small buck. He was only a 5 point but, he was legal in the area I was hunting. He came in to 15 yards and stopped broadside, but, I let him walk. Well, about 5 minutes after that, I see movement from the same trail. I look with the bino' s and I saw a small doe. She came out in the clearing, and I wasn' t going to shoot because she was so small. Well, a bigger doe followed her out and I decided that I was gonna take the bigger doe. They stopped at 15 yards, but, they were quartering towards me (very slightly), but, I didn' t like that, I wanted broadside or quartering away, so, I let them keep comming. They walked past me at 5 yards and were broadside. There was one tiny twig between the deer and I that I probablly could have cleared, but, I let her keep walking waiting for the perfect shot. She then jumped a little creek and as she did that, I drew my bow back. When she landed on the dried out part of the creek bed, I grunted and she stopped. She was slighltly quartering away at 8 yards. I put my pin about 3" back from her front shoulder and let the arrow fly........ TWACK. I smacked her good. I waited and listened to her, she ran away, then there was a short pause, and that great crash that we all love to hear. I sat down and waited for about 15 minutes then slowly and quietly got down out of my treestand. I grabbed my bow, and left my Summit climber on the tree and walked up to my house. I told my parents about it, then, 20 minutes later, I went back down to get her.
There was very little blood where she was at when I shot, but, just a few feet up the trail, the blood picked up in a HUGE way. The blood was bright pink, and was full of bubbles. There was a constant spray 3 feet wide on each side!!!!! I went about 45 yards from my stand and saw her laying there dead.
I walked up to her and was a little disappointed. She was smaller than what I had thought. I was judging her size by the smaller doe. I am not sure what she would have went live-weight, maybe around 100 pounds. The average doe I shoot is probablly 155 pounds live weight. But, I didn' t let it get to me too bad. She was a doe, and, this is on my property which I try to manage for large bucks. I take does out to get the population numbers in control, and that is what I did.
Well, when gutting her out, I noticed that my shot placement was perfect. The arrow hit in the top of the lungs, drilled through the center of the heart, then came out where the leg and shoulder meet. Then, the arrow on its way out, hit the does front leg. The front leg and shoulder blade are shattered.
I was shooting a BowTech MightyMite set at 30" draw length and 60 pound draw weight. I was shooting 29.25" PSE Carbon Force Dominator 300 arrows tipped off with 125 grain Muzzy 4-Blade broadheads. The Muzzy' s amazed me, consider that they passed through the deer (while shattering the shoulder) and still had enough power to smash the front leg on the way out.
The Primos Estrus Bleat and H.S. Tru-Talker were big factors in this hunt. The rut is comming early this year and these calls just bring deer in.
The Summit Bushmaster XLS treestand needs to be mentioned. I can' t say enough good things about these stands. They are so quiet. I am guessing that these deer were all bedded within 65 yards of where I was at, just on the other side of some really really thick brush. The stand climbed so quietly, and, it never made a sound when I was in it, even with the temps at 28 degrees.
Finally, the Realtree Hardwoods HD Green camo. It worked awsome today. Now, there was only one reason for that and it was called stand placement, but, I had to mention that it did its job. The tree I was in had no skyline, and it matched the camo to a T.
Well, now that I have my doe out of the way, it is time to focus on the big old 12 point
I took pics with my regular camera because my digital camera is broke. I still have 20 pics on the roll, so, when I finish it, I will get it developed and post the pics.
P.S. Matt/PA, I picked up a pair of Bushnell Legend 10X42 binos at Cabelas ysterday. I got them for a steal. Here is what happened. I was looking at the Pentax DCF-SP 8X43' s and comparing them to the Zeiss, Swarovski, Leicia, and Leupolds (which it destroyed), when a lady workin there came up to me and told me to look at a " real binocular" and she handed me a Kahles binocular. She then told me about how " unlike the Pentax" these had coated prisms, and a limited life-time warranty. I looked at them, and they were junk compared to those Pentax. I told her that the Kahles didn' t pick up nearly as much light, weren' t anywhere even near as clear, and I also informed her that the Pentax have BAK-4 coated prisms along with a limited life-time warranty. I then showed them to my best friend and he compared them. He also said the Pentax were better. She then told me how there lenses werent' the quality of the Kahles. Well, I was getting sick of her, so, I asked a guy I didn' t even know who was standing there to compare them, and he said the Pentax were better. She then made the comment " obviously you don' t know anything about binoculars" Well, at that time a guy walked up, and I told him that I didn' t appreciate the ladies ignorance and attitude. I then told him that I wanted to file a complaint about it. Well, he didn' t want that, and he offered the Bushnell Legend 10X42' s to me for 179.99 I accepted as that is a steal. They are very good quality. But, this spring, around turkey season, I will be getting those Pentax' s, as my girlfriend will be starting hunting next year, and I will just give her the Legends.